Archive for March, 2015

Last time we discovered that when optical rangefinders are used to measure the distance to objects extremely far away we encounter problems. We discussed one of them last time, the fact that as θ approaches 90° the tangent of θ becomes asymptotic, resulting in a situation where even the most minute changes to θ bring about huge corresponding changes to the distance, r, we seek to measure.

This difficulty goes hand in hand with another we’ll be discussing today, the problem of very tight spaces. They both lead to a greater potential for measurement inaccuracies.

The rangefinder in Figure 1 depicts the kind of situation that often results when attempting to measure objects that are extremely far away, like a ship on a distant horizon. Angle θ is very close to being 90°. Let’s see what that does to our measuring attempts with the rangefinder’s on-board measuring scale, its indicator gauge.

Figure 1

The fact is, when a rangefinder’s indicator gauge hovers near 90°, it becomes user unfriendly. To illustrate, let’s refer to a common everyday protractor, shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Protractors are divided into 1° gradations, which allow us to measure angles between 0° and 90°. This interval is fine for many angle measuring purposes, but we’ll see in a moment why it doesn’t work when measuring extremely long distances.

A similar protractor is found on a rangefinder’s indicator gauge, enabling us to measure the angle θ. Notice how small the space is between 89 and 90 degrees. Now imagine having to split that area into hundreds, even thousands, more gradations in order to accurately assess the value of θ. This is precisely the situation we encounter when using a rangefinder to measure extremely long distances where the lines of sight form long, narrow triangles and θ hovers near 90°. Are you beginning to see — or rather not see — the problem?

When this situation exists, ultra fine gradations must be made between the 89th and 90th degrees in order to make an accurate measurement of θ . This results in a situation where gradation marks are spaced so closely together they become difficult, if not impossible, for the unaided human eye to read.

Next time we’ll see why bigger is indeed better when seeking to solve this problem.

Last time we touched on the limitations of optical rangefinders when attempting to measure extremely long distances. Today we’ll expand on that theme.

Let’s say we want to use a rangefinder to determine the distance, r, to an object that’s extremely far away, like a ship on a distant horizon, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

It’s obvious that the rangefinder’s length, d, is extremely small in comparison to the total distance viewed, r. When this situation exists, a very long and narrow right triangle is formed between the lines of sight provided by mirrors A and B of the rangefinder, represented by two red dashed lines, and the length of the rangefinder itself, d.

It’s still a right triangle, a necessary condition to using our rangefinder formula to determine distance, however, when the triangle is an extremely long, narrow one, the angle θ approaches 90° in value. As discussed in a previous article, a θ value of 90° is impossible for the rangefinder distance formula to work with. The more distant the ship, the longer and narrower the triangle becomes, causing θ to creep ever closer to 90°. From a trigonometric point of view, this spells trouble.

The problem is, the closer θ gets to 90°, the greater the disparity potential in its measurement. For example, let’s suppose that when the ship is first sighted with the rangefinder θ is measured at 89.95°. Then a second later the same person seeks to verify his measurement. Without noticing that he’s doing it, he shifts weight on his foot ever so slightly, takes a second reading, and finds that this time θ is 89.97°. That’s a difference of only 0.02° between readings, but it produces a huge change in the tan(θ).

Figure 2 represents a graph of these two measurements, with the angle θ values on one axis, the tan(θ) values on the other.

Figure 2

The graph illustrates how this minute change in θ of only two hundredths of a degree (0.02°) results in a correspondingly huge change to tan(θ) of 763.94 units.

We know that the rangefinder’s length, d, equals 3 feet, so plugging all the numbers into our rangefinder formula we determine the distance to the ship to be,

r = d × tan(θ)

r = 3 feet× 763.94 = 2291.82 feet

What this means on a practical usability level is that when the rangefinder’s adjustable mirror B moves only two one hundredths of a degree, it results in a change to the distance viewed, r, of almost half a mile!

There’s another problem that goes hand in hand with the one presented today. We’ll explore it next time.

Last time we introduced the vertical asymptote and the fact that it’s associated with the tangent function when angles approach 90° in value. On a graph that looks like this:

Figure 1

This asymptotic relationship exists when attempting to use an optical rangefinder to determine the distance to objects that are extremely far away– as in so far away they can barely be seen by the naked eye. When this is the case, is it even possible to use the optical rangefinder? Theoretically, yes. But not without complications.

Our attempt to use the rangefinder to do this is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2

You’ll note that the lines of sight extending from mirrors A and B on our rangefinder are almost parallel to each other, creating a situation where a vertical asymptote will form with regard to θ’s tangent. In plain English this means that even minute changes in θ will result in huge changes to tan(θ).

Imagine working, working, working towards a goal and getting oh so close, but never being able to actually reach it. It’s happened to all of us some of the time, but with vertical asymptotes it happens all of the time. We’ll see why the nature of vertical asymptotes presents a problem when measuring extreme distances in today’s blog.

We’ve found that optical rangefinders can be useful in measuring long distances. They work well in many situations, but not all. When it comes to extremely long distances they aren’t at all helpful. That’s due to problems presented by trigonometry, more specifically the tangent function and how it leads to vertical asymptotes.

Let’s look at Figure 1 to bear this out.

Figure 1

In Figure 1 we see the same rangefinder being used to view objects at two different distances, one distance far greater than the other. There’s an obvious difference in the lengths of the sides of the triangles formed, as well as an obvious difference in angles θ1 and θ2. θ2 is much steeper than θ1. This is more apparent when the lines of sight are isolated, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows that as an object becomes more distant and r, the distance to the object viewed increases, the angle θgets closer and closer to a value of 90°. What’s significant about this is that a θ value of 90° is impossible for a rangefinder to work with. Why? Because it uses trigonometry to measure distances, more specifically the tangent function within trigonometry, and when θ takes on a value of 90°, it becomes asymptotic in nature — a situation which renders the optical rangefinder useless.

To visualize this, we’ve plotted the tangent function for an array of angle θ values on a graph in Figure 3.

Figure 3

The curved line represents plotted tangent values for θ that fall between 0° and 90°. What it demonstrates is that as θ gets closer to becoming 90°, it becomes more vertical and steeper in incline. In other words, it forms a vertical asymptote, stretching to reach a value of 90° but never actually getting there. In the math world this means that the tangent’s value is on its way to becoming unbounded or undefined. In plain English this means that the tangent’s value becomes increasingly more unworkable. In fact, the tangent of 90° degrees does not exist. Try entering the number 90 into your calculator and pressing the TAN button. You’ll receive an error message in return.

Next week we’ll see the impact this has on the function of an optical rangefinder when the object viewed is so far away the angle θ approaches a value of 90°.